South Korea - The Korea Times

Lena Park to return to 'I Am a Singer'

Singer Lena Park / Korea Times fileSinger Lena Park, better known as Park Jung-hyun, will return for the third season of the MBC reality show “I Am a Singer.”In 2011, Park was a stand-out participant on the first season of the competitive music show, appearing alongside fellow stars Kim Gun-mo, Baek Ji-young, Kim Bum-soo, Lee So-ra and Jung Yub.This time, Park will not only compete, but also emcee the program.Hyorin from K-pop girl group SISTAR has also been announced as a contestant.Contestants are judged by the audience members. In the first season, the participant who received the lowest total score each week was eliminated. A change was made in the second season, and each month the participants with the highest and lowest score left the program. Producers have hinted that the guidelines will be changed again this year.   The first episode of the weekly show will air on Jan. 30.

Jan 15, 2015

Centuries

Jan 15, 2015

Big fish

A goosander, a winter migratory bird, struggles to swallow a big fish it caught, in Namdae stream in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Wednesday./ Yonhap

Jan 14, 2015

Child abuse at Songdo preschool caught on camera

/ YonhapBy Lee Ji-hyeShocking footage of a teacher striking a four-year-old girl at a daycare center in Incheon has gone viral online.The Incheon Yeonsu Police Station confirmed that the incident, captured by a CCTV camera, had occurred in Songdo by a teacher surnamed Yang, 33. Yang apparently struck the girl because she had not finished everything on her plate.The mother of the girl reported to the police on Monday after her daughter had shown “abnormal behavior,” police said.The footage dated Jan. 8, released to the media by police officials, shows the teacher ordering the girl to eat her leftover food, hitting her arms and face as the girl has difficulties forcing down the food.More than five children are also seen in the video kneeling on the floor as Yang’s scolding continues.Yang was summoned by investigators on Monday, and was reported to have admitted her actions.The footage has circulated widely on the Internet. Text messages reportedly sent by the school to parents have been shared as well.One message read, “We understand that you might have been sur

Jan 14, 2015

Child abuse at Songdo preschool caught on camera

Girls in uniform

A girl grimaces during winter training organized by the First Division of the Marine Corps at Dogu beach in the southeastern coastal city of Pohang, Wednesday. A total of 176 middle, high school and college students volunteered to participate in the training. / Yonhap

Jan 14, 2015

Experiencing 'seodang'

Elementary school students in traditional Korean costumes attend an etiquette class at Mugyewon, a traditional culture center, in Jongno, Seoul, Tuesday. They participated in a cultural program to experience “seodang,” a private learning institute from the Joseon Kingdom./ Yonhap

Jan 14, 2015

Two arrested for shoddy counterfeit bills

A man is seen shopping with counterfeit money at a market in Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province on Dec. 24, 2014. / YonhapDaegu police arrested two men Wednesday for allegedly making and circulating counterfeit 50,000 won bills.The two men, identified by their surnames Chung and Kim, both in their mid-20s, allegedly created the bills using a color printer, used them at markets in Busan and Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province.According to the police, the two learned how to counterfeit money from an inmate while in prison. They bought the printer and 13,500 sheets of paper after being released.They stopped the scheme soon after, however, because clerks were suspicious of the bills, the police said.The bills “did not have a smooth texture,” and the portrait of Sin Saimdang, the female artist during the Joseon Kingdom who appears on the bill, could not be seen when held up to the light, the police said. 

Jan 14, 2015

Two arrested for shoddy counterfeit bills

'Ode to My Father' hits 10 million in ticket sales

A scene from "Ode to My Father." The film depicts the life of a man who sacrifices his dreams to support his family. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunDirector Youn Je-Kyoun’s “Ode to My Father” is the first film to hit 10 million ticket sales this year.The Korea Film Council said Wednesday the film had accumulated sales of 10,000,677 tickets after 154,606 people saw it at 848 theaters across the country on Tuesday. The film was released on Dec. 17.“Ode to my Father” is the 14th movie to reach 10 million, and the 11th among domestic films.It has been number one at the box office since the day after it was released. The state-run council attributes the success to the large middle-aged and elderly audience.The film depicts the life of a man who sacrifices his dreams to support his family in the 1950s up to the present.On New Year’s Day, a record-setting 751,253 people watched the film, exceeding the 672,682 who last year saw “The Attorney,” another box office hit that drew more than 10 million viewers.Youn also became the first director with two films

Jan 14, 2015

'Ode to My Father' hits 10 million in ticket sales

Singled out for small portions

/ Courtesy of Home plus By Rachel Lee Dining alone may be losing its stigma in Korea.Food producers are setting their sights on the “single-serving” market as the country increasingly becomes a single-household nation.According to Home plus, the Korean arm of British supermarket Tesco, the number of single-serve, prepared meals has increased 53.6 percent over the past two years, from 392 to 602. Sales have climbed about 30 percent every year since 2012.“Food manufacturers are filling supermarket shelves with a range of creative single-serve food products to tempt solitary or hurried shoppers,” a Home plus spokesperson said.According to Statistics Korea, the proportion of single households reached 23.9 percent last year. The proportion has increased by some six percent every year since 2000.In line with the change, special online shopping forums for small, packaged foods have emerged. For example, Shopintake.com exclusively sells food products for single-person households.Apart from instant meals, large retailers have introduced assortments of fresh f

Jan 14, 2015

Did Tiger JK predict the tobacco price hike?

Seo Jeong-kwon, also known as Tiger JK from hip-hop duo "Drunken Tiger" / Korea Times fileRapper Tiger JK is being lauded for his intuition because a song he wrote in 2004 seems to “predict” the government’s recent price hike on cigarettes.  In the song, titled "Would-Be Singer 1," Tiger JK rhymes about overpaying for a pack of cigarettes. He pays 4,500 won ($4.16) for a pack, which is what many cigarette brands now cost following the Jan. 1 price hike. At the start of the song, from the album “One Is Not a Lonely Word,” the rapper has 5,000 won in his wallet. He then enters a “bread shop” to buy a pack of cigarettes, but as he pays, he becomes mesmerized by a “pretty woman” who appears on a television screen.  “Then I realize I was given only 500 won in change,” he sings. “The cigarettes cost 1,500 won. What’s 5,000 won minus 1,500 won?” Netizens unearthed the track following the government price hike. One commenter called the premonition “scary,” while other

Jan 14, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan

Others

Others

Lena Park to return to 'I Am a Singer'

Centuries

Big fish

Child abuse at Songdo preschool caught on camera

Girls in uniform

Experiencing 'seodang'

Two arrested for shoddy counterfeit bills

'Ode to My Father' hits 10 million in ticket sales

Singled out for small portions

Did Tiger JK predict the tobacco price hike?

Most Read in South Korea